hi,i totally agree with this.i have been working on my 39 chevy 4dr for about 2 yrs now and i still have a ways to go but it has been fun.once i get reliable heat in my garage,i will be out there more than in the house.i cant wait for winter to end.

I just picked up a 66 chev truck that was some farmers abandoned project, alot of the work is straight butcher and needs to be redone and the truck is already 3/4 disasembled, now i know where the body parts go, but I have none of the origianal fastners. How would i go about knowing what kind of nuts and bolts i need for where? Should i just get an assortment of bolts and see what fits, then make notes?....any ideas would be much appreciated?

Check GregsAustomotive.com for some manufacturers books.

Also, check with ChevyDuty.com for good quality aftermarket parts for older chevy trucks. You have to select your year model and then get what catalog you will need.

Hi! I´m new in the forum and I hope you can help me with my project. I decided to buy a Chevy 1957 two door sedan and I found it. It's a half finished project: has a 350 V8 and AT, some of the interiors have been renew and others changed ( as the front seats that now are individuals ). I'm worried because the body have some damage on it: some areas of the sheet metal ,fenders for example, are in bad shape as well as the chassis that shows rust signals. My question is, how many damage can or should be repaired and not loose my entire money and mental health? I can do some of the welding-painting job as well as the mechanical.
I'll appreciate all the help that you can give me!!
Thanks a lot.

Thanks man thats awsum, Ive built several street machines and i'm in the process of finding a project car for my first rod, Ive printed this out (changed the monatory value for the Australian dollar LOL) and will show my wife she always expects these tasks doen in a weekend my last project took 18months of solid work and she still thinks I was blodging

It may be a fairly large undertaking but contrary to popular belief these old hunks of tin are quite simple in todays standards.

Many get sucked into the misnomer that it has to be gigabuck parts that get you going, somwhere along the line many get fed up and discouraged and loose site of the end of the project. where had they gotten it running and drove the project every once in awhile that interest would be maintained and most likly the project finished.

I got my 49 from cow pasture to driveable with PS, PB & disk brakes in 4 months, Its been a driveable project the whole time with exception of when it goes down for major components (twas down for 6 months while I boxed the frame and put airbags on and cut up a latemodel S10 bed for my bed box) thats the only way I can maintain interest and not get discouraged in a project is if I can enjoy it every once in awhile....it still doesnt have an interior in it, but we're getting close!

Thank's Kallie 49, As I get more and more info. from builders, I'm finding that most builder's have been working on there project's for years.I'm in the process of getting the body parts repaired or replaced and trying to determine which route I'm going to take in replacing, upgrading or purchasing the chassis? The latter is the most costly! Thanks again for your feedback and a Big Good Luck on your build!!!!

I've been workin on mine off and on for 6 years now, problem with me is I get one major thing done and have so much fun drivin it it takes anotehr year to get up enough intestinal fortitude to pull it back off the road for a few months for the next big undertaking. the suspention, and running gear is your biggest deal, get the right stuff the first time up, dont buy your parts twice. That said the right stuff isnt nessecarily the most expensive stuff....Then again take this advice from a guy that fabs 90% of what he does cause he doesnt like alot of the aftermarket wares....

Kallie49, I think I'm going to let a guy I talked to in Alabama build the frame and make the modifications. He built a 55 Chevy pick-up that was featured in Classic Trucks magazine. By the way his name is Robert Wymann

You will hear me talk about how the time spent in detailing is much more important than some wild custom modification. Trial fitting parts is the beginning of detailing. I don't care how much money you throw at a car, nothing is going to do more than good basic detailing AS you build the car. I have a whole "Basics of Basics" to detailing in the works but until that is done, here is a good start.

"Basics of Basics" Trial fitting parts
By Brian Martin

There are few procedures that give you more ‘Bang for your buck” than trial fitting parts. Sounds simple, just common sense. However, it is something that comes with very hard learned lessons. Even after doing this work for over twenty five years, I still forget once and a while. When I do, there is a good chance I will pay for it dearly.

Like the fabricators motto “If you don’t have a pile of rejects in the trash, you aren’t doing good work”, the time spent on trial fitting is VERY good time spent.

This trial fitting should include nearly every single part of the car.

When installing a weld on part such as a quarter, trial fitting ALL the adjacent panels is not just something you “should” do, you MUST do it. The decklid, door, rear bumper, window mouldings, etc, should ALL installed and fit well BEFORE your welding is done. At this time a little minor tuning can turn an “OK” job into an outstanding one. You may even find the need to serious adjustment.

Trial fitting is not holding the part up and saying “yep it fits”. We are talking FULLY bolting the part on. If this is a moving part such as a door or deck lid, the latch should be installed, hinges FULLY bolted on and adjusted. The rubber seals and bumpers should be installed as well. On an older car this is not so easy because many are glued in, but SOMETHING has to be done to insure the part will fit properly when the rubber is installed later.

If you can’t install the rubber at that time at least spend some time looking at where the rubber fits to for a proper gap. For instance, while fitting a decklid to your new quarter (or the other way around, it makes no difference) get in the trunk and close the lid. Inspect around the channel where the rubber fits. Be sure it is a uniform distance ALL the way around. You can usually find the correct distance right where the hinges are. If the panel fits correctly on the outside then that gap for the rubber is usually going to be correct. If you feel for some reason that there is damage to that area, you need to spend some time there. If you feel the car has been hit on the side piller post (if you were fitting the door) you really need insure that the door fits properly and that you KNOW what that rubber gap should be. This gap is usually a uniform distance all the way around, be sure of it. When you are doing a door, you always have the other side to check to guidance remember. When installing a quarter, rear panel, upper panel, this is very critical. You don’t want to find out later that your gap is too small, the lid won’t close properly or sticks up. You don’t want to find out the gap is too large, the rubber may not seal and the trunk leaks water. A little minor shifting of parts prior to welding could take care of it.
You want ALL gaps perfect PRIOR to welding (a little tack here or there may be needed for fitting the parts) there is NOTHING that will tell you this other than FULLY mounting the adjacent parts.

Mouldings:
When doing any plastic filler work (“bondo”) or straightening metal you need to trail fit the mouldings, trim and adjacent parts as well. This is VERY important with parts like fender extensions. I don’t care if they are new/used or the even the same ones you took off the car, AWAYS trial fit them. Don’t leave you new repro parts in the package to install them after paint, you WILL be sorry.

Prior to paint or even primer you can “tweek” these mouldings against the body. After paint, it is much harder because you can scratch it. If there is plastic filler work or metal being straightened this is VERY important. After you have drilled holes for mouldings (Basics of Basics-Templates) bolt the mouldings on for fit.

The cars weight should be on the “wheels” when making these panel adjustments. NEVER fit panels while the car is on jack stands on the frame or on a rotisserie for something like that. You can have the car on jack stands but be sure they are under the rear axle and front control arms to “replicate” the forces of the car on it’s wheels. I don’t even like the under the control arms at all, I put the car on it’s front wheels. The weight transfer is not the same in the middle of the control arms as it is at the point where the tire hits the ground.

I can not stress this enough, trial fitting parts is not because you are a newbe or something. Every experienced body man does it everyday to some degree. Trial fitting is done throughout the entire repair of the car. Nothing could be worse than getting your car back from the painter only to find parts don’t fit!
Just yesterday I was working on 2002 Honda CR-V with a little dent on the quarter right at the edge by the rear gate. I had finished the plastic filler work and was ready to send it to the paint department. I went ahead and installed the new decklid just to be sure it was right, even though this was a very minor repair that should easily be fine. I found out I was a little on the filler work. Now, it wasn’t the end of the world and could have even stayed that way. But with literally only a few minutes, it was perfect. On a very large job lately I found the need to pull the car back up on the frame rack for a little minor repair to where the rubber fits or the door would have been MUCH too tight. Just this little fine tuning made a world of difference to how the door fit.

The moral of the story is don’t ever “assume” your parts are going to fit. I don’t give a darn if they are new, repro, NOS, original, it really doesn’t matter, they MUST be trial fit.

The final assembly of your car should be fun, and relaxing. It is the best part of the whole project. Don’t make it a nightmare, don’t let someone rush you during the earlier phases of the project. Right from the very beginning you are laying the foundation for the finished project. Take the time to do it right.
If you trial fit the parts properly you will never know the pain you saved yourself, but believe me, it was time very well spent.

my son 14 and I picked up a 55 chevy 210 4 door wagon a couple of months ago,we have decided to do some major body mods due to the simularity of all of the wagons we have seen, my son stripped the car without me and did the cardinal no no, bolts every where, we did a through inspection and found that the floors and rocker panels were rusted out, we have 2 mig welders and a three car garage to work in so space is no problem, we just picked up a 73 chevy camaro doner with some rust in the body, a built 350 with a gear drive, th350 trans with a stall speed converter,rebuilt 10 bolt rearend,posi,377 gears, crager aluminum wheels, new cooper tires, and all kinds of parts that were going to cost us a fortune, two cars, $4,750 and now the work begins, how to graft that front clip onto the 55 is my first concern. any suggestions would be appreciated.

Centerline, that's great advice! How many times have I drug some old P.O.S. home and jumped right into ripping it apart. How many times have I spent money I shouldn't have 'cuz I wasn't paying attention.
My roadster project is going the "organized route this time, and even tho I feel it's taking forever sometimes, I haven't made any mistakes, or bought something I find out later I didn't need.
What you put in your thread is some of the best advice a rookie can have, and it didn't cost them anything. Way to go, bro.......

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